Much of my early photography was taken
in and around the environs of locomotive sheds and stations generally. The
reasons aren't hard to find: without a car, and for that matter without a
license to drive, reliance on buses provided a real limit to where I could
pursue photography. But photography in and around sheds provided some great
advantages as well. A casual afternoon of walking could produce some very
nice images, with the time to consider composition, and the opportunity to
take several slightly different shots of the same subject. And of course,
it was an opportunity to photograph people as well.

Now of course things are quite different. The relentless tide of change
has swept aside much of the physical fabric of loco facilities, reducing
the chance to take photos such as these. Fewer people are involved in the
whole organisation, and, in some places at least, the relaxed and welcoming
atmosphere of these places has been replaced with a concern about vandalism
and graffiti.